Arcata soil company settles in water contamination lawsuit

Humboldt Baykeeper warns of chemical runoff on former mill sites

By
Will Houston, Eureka Times-Standard

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

The Arcata-based soil company Royal Gold LLC recently settled a federal civil lawsuit filed by Humboldt Baykeeper that alleged the company allowed harmful chemicals at its Glendale soil mixing facility to contaminate the Mad River and the nearby Mill Creek.

The company agreed to make a variety of infrastructure changes to prevent contaminated runoff from entering soil and groundwater; continue water sampling for the next two years to determine if the changes have been effective; allow Humboldt Baykeeper’s attorneys to inspect the facility twice and pay it $7,500 for doing so; pay $40,000 for environmental projects to improve water quality on Mad River or Humboldt Bay; and pay the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation $10,000 to build permanent public toilets in order to reduce contamination of Humboldt Bay, according to court documents.

Royal Gold has been operating the 15-acre soil mixing facility on the former Blue Lake Forest Products mill site since 2009, according to court documents.

Humboldt Baykeeper Executive Director Jennifer Kalt urged potential buyers of former timber mill properties to determine whether soil and groundwater at the site has been contaminated with chemicals. Kalt said this is especially important for cannabis businesses as the county is currently proposing to incentivize businesses to reuse former industrial sites.

“Although some former lumber mill sites may be appropriate locations for new cannabis–related businesses, many of them are contaminated with industrial chemicals, including dangerous and long-lasting dioxins from the use of a wood preservative, pentachlorophenol,” Kalt said. “Without full knowledge of the extent of these pollutants and proper cleanup, ground disturbance at these sites can impact our waterways, as well as human health.”

Royal Gold’s President Chad Waters declined to comment for this article. This reporter’s attempts to contact Royal Gold’s Lafayette-based attorneys James Arnold and John Beard were not returned by 5 p.m. Tuesday. By signing the consent decree, Royal Gold is not admitting liability to the lawsuit’s claims.

In addition, the company was also ordered to partially reimburse Humboldt Baykeeper’s law firm Aqua Terra Aeris LLP $91,000 for investigation, consulting, attorney-related and other costs incurred during the lawsuit. Kalt said that Humboldt Baykeeper will not be receiving any money as part of the settlement agreement.

Humboldt Baykeeper, an Arcata-based nonprofit of the Northcoast Environmental Center, filed the lawsuit in October 2016 alleging Royal Gold was violating the federal Clean Water Act by allowing contaminated stormwater runoff to enter the Mad River watershed without a proper plan in place to prevent it. The lawsuit claims the company had also not fully reported its industrial activities.

Meanwhile, the county Planning and Building Department is currently conducting an environmental review of Royal Gold’s proposal to expand its operations at the Glendale facility. Humboldt Baykeeper appealed the expansion project in 2016 as well the Royal Gold’s finding that its project would not have any significant environmental impacts.

Humboldt Baykeeper claimed Royal Gold had already begun construction on the project without proper permits.

Planning and Building Director John Ford confirmed to the Times-Standard on Tuesday that the company had not obtained county permits before it began construction. Ford said the company has already laid down some asphalt, had begun turning over soil at another site and had built a large hoop structure where it could unpack the coco fiber bales it uses in its soils.

Ford said some of the construction — such as the company creating a multi-tiered set of settling ponds for water quality improvement — has been “really good” despite not being permitted. Ford said the county is currently analyzing whether any groundwater is running near an area of contaminated soil at the facility that has already been capped off.

Rather than bring the matter to the county code enforcement unit, Ford said that his department seeks to remedy the situation by getting the project through the permitting process.

Once the county’s environmental review is completed, Ford said that Royal Gold will need to submit another environmental review — or a finding that their project would not significantly impact the environment — which the public and Board of Supervisors will have a chance to review. Ford said he anticipates the environmental review will be completed in the near future.